A Roaring Success: Celebrating Baby Box’s First Birthday

Mike Thorburn

By Mike Thorburn

15 Aug 2018

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Scotland’s Baby Box is celebrating its first anniversary alongside more than 50,000 happy recipients.

We’re dedicated to making Scotland the best place in the world to grow up and as part of that commitment we launched the Baby Box campaign in 2017. 12 months later, the first group of ‘Baby Box bairns’ are blowing out the candles on their birthday cakes as this pioneering initiative celebrates its milestone 1st anniversary.

The primary aim of the campaign is to give every single baby born in Scotland an equal start in life, and in the last year we have distributed more than 50,000 boxes. These boxes have made their way to expectant mothers up and down the country – from the Shetland Islands to the Borders - as they get ready to embark on their life-changing journey into parenthood.

Over the course of the last year, 85% of mothers-to-be in Scotland have jumped at the chance to receive the Baby Box. The saying goes that “the proof is in the pudding” and we’re excited to say that feedback on the box has also been overwhelmingly positive since the launch. The latest parent surveys carried out show that there’s an incredible 100% satisfaction rating for the box.

Making a real impact

The great news is that these boxes are having a real impact on the lives of those who receive them. That’s because every single Baby Box is jam-packed with all the essentials needed to help new parents welcome their bundle of joy into the world. Items such as baby clothes, a blanket, a bath towel, a baby wrap, toys, bibs, an ear thermometer and nursing pads are just a glimpse of the goodies inside.

These items were all chosen after an extensive insight campaign, which was dedicated to determining exactly what new parents would need in those early days. Amazingly, a massive 70% of parents said that they couldn’t think of anything that was missing from the box, which really reinforces all the excellent work done in the lead up to the launch.

The box has also been developed so that it can be used as a place for new-borns to sleep. It comes lined with a mattress, mattress protector and a fitted sheet and provides a comfortable and safe place to pop the little one down for a nap.

Case Studies

To celebrate the anniversary, we spoke with some of the families that are really benefitting from the Baby Box initiative. Check out the case studies below!

Darren Burt & Mandy Niblo

Darren and Mandy live in Falkirk with their baby, Harris, who is three months old. They received their Baby Box around five weeks before Harris was due, but they had no idea at that time just how essential the box would be.

Harris hadn’t been well for around a week or so, and awoke one morning with an incredibly high temperature of nearly 39°C and was rushed straight into hospital. Luckily, Harris pulled through, with the Doctor saying that having an accurate temperature reading was crucial in his decision to admit Harris so quickly for treatment.

Mandy said:

“Harris is my fourth child and I’ve never thought to buy a digital thermometer before, so I was incredibly grateful to get one in my Baby Box. I’d recommend the box to anyone who has a new-born on the way – its packed full of great quality, useful items, including some that you might not think to buy yourself, that could potentially save your child’s life”.

Vhairi Walker

Vhairi lives in Torphins, Aberdeen with baby, Seth, who is nine months old. As someone who lost her mum when she was only a couple of months old and doesn’t have a lot of family close by, receiving this gift made Vhairi feel that someone was looking out for her and her family.

She felt that the box could be a real lifeline for people out there who don’t have a support network around them, or can’t afford to buy the essentials they need. Though she hadn’t considered buying one herself, she loved the sling as it allowed her to bond with Seth while still being able to get on with tasks around the house.

Vhairi said:

“Now, we use the Baby Box to store Seth’s books and toys and in years to come I plan to use it as a memory box to keep special mementos of his early years”.

Katie Mitchell

Katie lives in Methil, Fife, with Amelia, who is 20 months old and Emily, who is 10 months old. She was particularly impressed with the quality and range of items included in the Baby Box and even filmed herself opening it to share her excitement with friends and family.

She has gone on to recommend the box to a few of her friends who are also expecting, telling them just how fantastic it is. She said that receiving the box really opened her eyes to all of the different things that she would need, and really helped her prepare for little Emily’s arrival!

Katie said:

“The box was so much bigger than I expected it to be and I was blown away by everything that was included. The clothes were so cute and I loved the bright colours – we even brought Emily home from hospital in one of the sleep suits”.

Scotland's Baby Box

In Scotland, we believe that parenting is one of the most important jobs in the world. The work we do preparing our children for the future will ultimately shape our world in the years to come. With that in mind, we want to make Scotland the best place in the world to grow up in.

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